www.maderatribune.comServing the Heart of California since 1892http://www.maderatribune.com/node/8149/atom.xml2015-03-31T18:28:10+00:00http://www.maderatribune.com/news/missing-minor-found-safe2014-02-28T06:45:13+00:002014-03-01T06:45:28+00:00Missing minor found safewebmaster

A teenage girl was returned safe to Madera on Wednesday evening after authorities caught her on the run to Mexico with her 41-year-old supposed boyfriend.

The 13-year-old girl was reportedly in a relationship with Mexican national Javier Quintero Vargas prior to when she was reported missing from Sierra Vista School on Tuesday, Madera Police Department Detective Daniel Foss said.

Apparently, Foss said, Vargas was romantically involved with both the girl — who willingly fled with him from school — and her mother, who knew of the situation and did nothing to stop it.

“You can’t be consensual at 13,” Foss said, “but it’s really not that uncommon a case here … It’s almost always girls between the ages of 10 to 14 who get involved with their mother’s boyfriend. Sexual predators come in as father figures, which the girls may have never had, and that makes them very easy targets for these older guys.” ...